PCT Application No. WO 9739320 describes a pressure sensor having a steel diaphragm onto which is mounted a micromechanical component in the form of a silicon bridge. Piezoresistive measuring elements that are integrated into the silicon bridge are used to detect the diaphragm deflections.
In practice, the sensor concept described in WO 9739320 has proven to be problematic because the micromechanical component and steel diaphragm have different coefficients of thermal expansion. Because the sensor is ordinarily exposed to temperature fluctuations, lateral mechanical stresses that can significantly distort the sensor measurement results occur in the silicon bridge. To prevent this, WO 9739320 proposes a complex mounting concept that is intended to absorb the lateral mechanical stresses.